Halloween Treat One: Trick 'r Treat (2007)

How better to start this Halloween week than with Michael Dougherty's keenly-anticipated Trick 'R Treat, a marvelous portmanteau film that does for the horror genre what Pulp Fiction did for gangsters.

Dougherty's film interweaves several stories, all occurring simultaneously in a small American town during a Halloween festival, with time jumping back and forward so we get to see several events from different perspectives.

Among the stories are those of a group of youngsters whose cruel prank on the local 'idiot savant' backfires unexpectedly; the school principal (Dylan Baker - from the Spider-Man movies), a widower and single-father, who happens to be a serial killer; Laurie, the young virgin (Anna Paquin, foreshadowing her True Blood days) looking for the right man to take to a wild party with her sister and friends; and an irascible old man (Brian Cox) trapped in his house with a button-eyed, seasonal demon called Sam (Quinn Lloyd) - as in Samhain.

As well as a subtle investigation of the lore and legends surrounding Halloween, Trick 'r Treat is a well-balanced blend of creepiness and gore, with a little bit of skin, a little bit of cussing and whole heap of atmosphere; especially as you begin to piece together the connections between the sundry plotlines. Not that the film is written as a mystery, but it certainly adds to the enjoyment as the pieces fall into place.

A lot goes unexplained as well, but this doesn't matter because the movie is a celebration of the spooky stories and urban myths kids and adults tell each other at this time of year; and how many of them make true sense in the cold light of day?

Splattered with gruesome, dark humour, this is campfire scares, rather than nasty brutal shocks, that build to a big climax for each yarn that is often tinged with mocking or ironic laughter.

A thoroughly enjoyable 79-minutes of quality horror, I can see this becoming a Halloween fixture at HeroPress Towers (not that I'd ever get Rachel to watch it, no matter how cute Sam is!)

* As an aside, this brand new DVD, released this week, cost me (from Play.com) almost a pound less than the cost of a single cinema ticket at our local multiplex.

I just can't understand, in this time of global recession, when people need entertainment to take their mind off the lack of ready cash in their pocket, a cinema (outside of a major city, where everything is more expensive anyway) charging £8.90 for a person to see a film.

If this ludicrous pricing policy continues I can foresee the tragic death of the cinema and the rise of home entertainment.

For less than the price of a cinema ticket I've got this film for as long as I want to keep it, to view as many times as I like in comfortable surroundings; a film I can loan to friends and watch whenever the mood takes me... without having to struggle to an out-of-town multiplex stocked with overpriced sweets.